Roncey's Promise
by H.Chris.H
Summary: The 2nd winter of the walking dead is around the corner and the remains of a co-ed high school soccer team struggle to survive in the backwoods of rural Georgia. As the only remaining adult in the group, Roncey has promised to do her best to keep them alive, but she doesn't know for how much longer. (No worries no spoilers. Set during the S 3 hiatus. Starting out K might get to M.)
1. Chapter 1

**~o0O0o~**

Roncey hissed as she gestured to the others to drop to the ground. She was pissed off, they'd been working this tiny strip mall in this one horse town all day, slowly drawing off walkers a little at a time to kill them out of sight of the road. Now when their goal was in sight a jerk on a motorcycle shows up making all kinds of noise like he's ringing the dinner bell. He'll just take what he wants and leave them the mess just like they always do. Well not this time! She needed whatever medicine she could get her hands on for Missy back at the camp, another winter was coming and damn it, she wasn't going to lose another one to a GD cold!

She checked her sidearm and although she had a silencer, she was running dangerously low on ammunition and knew she needed to save it for a last resort.

"Think Roncey, think." She muttered to herself as she shook her head.

He's faster on his bike she thought, but chances are good she'd be faster on her feet, she knew the layout of the store and surrounding area. She figured she could get in, get out and then disappear in the backwoods where his bike can't go.

She waved over to Toby up ahead and Scar behind her to meet up at her location. They'd had a lot of practice this past year and didn't make a sound as they slowly made their way to her.

'Yo! What's up?" Scar asked quietly as he squatted down beside her with his dark hoody drawn over his head, his blond hair peeking out from under the cap he was wearing underneath it.

It wasn't that he was cold, this wasn't winter by their standards, it was more of a fashion statement. She was convinced Scar saw himself as a Jesse Pinkman type. Secretly she thought it was cute but she drew the line at the swearing. You can take the teacher off the school bus but even in a Zombie Apocalypse there were standards. It came down to respect. Just like how they agreed to refer to each other by where they were from instead of their names, something from one of those Zombie movies, the one with all the rules. They were from Toronto up in Canada and Scar was from Scarborough, an east end suburb with a reputation for being a little rougher. Toby, was from Etobicoke in the West end, just past the Humber River but not as far as Mississauga where the airport was, which was where Missy was from. She was from Roncesvalles, in the downtown west end which made her Roncey. It was a stupid name, she knew it but if it made the kids happy what did it hurt.

Toby dropped silently on his haunches next to her, he was a little older than the others and if things were normal he'd be off at university on his pre med scholarship. He was one of those pedestal students, the kind that was always at the top of his class in a way that didn't earn him friends. It wasn't that he was a Sheldon but even without the green lantern shirt he was wearing, there was no disguising that he was a nerd.

Roncey nodded in response and then explained in a low voice.

"Guys, we can't risk this guy taking what we need for Missy, I don't need to tell you what's at stake. We're not strong enough to take him on unless we have to so we'll have to be quiet. Sorry no shopping on this trip. Antibiotics and we're out. Hopefully we can come back, but no promises."

They both nodded in understanding, although the disappointment was clear on their faces. They'd been in the woods for a while and were running low on supplies. That and Scar was always on the look out for candy, that one sure had a sweet tooth that lightly seasoned rodent did not replace.

"OK, Scar I need you to watch the rear and Toby keep an eye on the road. As soon as I give you the signal we'll take off through the backwoods like a bat out of hell. Hopefully, he doesn't even see us but if he does, we shouldn't have anything he wants and he should just go on his way."

She made a point to look like a boy these days to avoid any of "all that." Something she'd learned in the year since the soccer tournament that had brought them to Atlanta. She watched them get into position before she made her move, feeling fiercely protective of them. They had started out as 20 when they drove south and were down to just 4 from the original group, plus the three more they'd picked up along the way.

The head coach and his assistant were among the first to go when things got weird on the field last year. She had reacted instantly, grabbed who she could, ran for the bus and then drove off as fast and as far out of town as she could. You don't have to be a rocket scientist to know it's not normal for people to tackle others to the ground and rip their throats out with their teeth. She didn't care if it was bath salts or a George Romero film shoot, they could thank her or laugh at her later when they watched it on the news.

Only it didn't happen that way, and they haven't stopped running since. That first day they lost more half of their people, she saw eight of the team get ripped apart right in front of her as she drove the bus and she just lost track of the other four. She hoped they got away but there'd be no way to know. After that it was all just a blur or people running and screaming. She felt bad that she hadn't stopped to help anyone and had just floored it all they way out of town, she should have gone to the CDC, the police, Fort Benning something, but she didn't. She just drove until they were in the middle of no where and out of gas.

A year later they were still in the middle of no where and she was damned if she'd lose anymore people, not today. With that thought she strengthened her resolve and crept inside the small town drug store grateful that her runner's legs could handle the squat walk that was required, as she made her way to the back of the store. She was glad to see the biker dude was on the other side of the store as she made her way towards the pharmacist's section. Based on his interest up front it looked like there wouldn't be too much problem as she made her way behind the counter and grabbed the bottles of penicillin and anything else ending in "illin" that she recognized and stuffed them in her backpack as quickly and quietly as she could. She was feeling pretty good about getting ready to make a getaway until she heard a car pull up out front. Oh damn. Of course he's not alone. Who goes grocery shopping on a bike? She heard the door slam shut and the footsteps of someone enter the store.

"Hey, why didn't you wait?" A male voice asked a little peevishly.

"It was empty. No sense wastin' time." The biker replied nonchalantly.

"So did you find anything?" The second man asked, not taking offense as he walked over to him.

"Yeah, there's lots of stuff here." He said with a chuckle. "Better get some baskets and load up the car. I'll see what else they got." The second part sounded much closer as he walked towards her position.

Oh shit, she thought to herself...looking for somewhere to hide. Anywhere. Backing herself to the storage area she wondered if she could risk it. That section hadn't been cleared and it could be full of zombies. The other choice was to stay where she was. Either way she didn't like her odds.

**~o0O0o~**

**Just a dream I had that begged to be written down. I'll keep writing the other story but I had to get this out of my head to free up a little space. Let me know what you think. **


	2. Chapter 2

**This will be a spoiler free fic set during the S3 hiatus/winter, the time they never seem to talk about and certainly don't show, so about 6 months before the season 4 premiere.**

**~o0O0o~~o0O0o~~o0O0o~**

Roncey paused on her way to the storage room for a moment to weigh her options, she could take her chances with the biker, after all he didn't seem like a bad guy from what she saw, but then he didn't know she was there and that could change everything. She'd learned there were all sorts of people out here, opportunists, sadists, desperate people, even cannibals. Let alone all the dead ones walking about. The best kind of folks were the ones that left you alone or occasionally bartered for things, but that hadn't happened in a long while. These days it was easiest if they didn't even know you were there, period. The bottom line was that if Missy didn't get these antibiotics she was dead, simple as that.

With her mind made up that she'd take her chances with what was behind door number 1, Roncey quietly picked her way to the store room, checked the silencer on her gun, and placed her knife in her teeth as she reached up to turn the knob slowly. There was a whisper of a click and then the door opened and she felt the temperature drop in the air from the dark concrete room as she entered. Listening intently, she quickly slipped in and let the door softly close behind her.

**~o0O0o~**

The biker raised his finger to his mouth and gestured to his partner that he had heard something. He had the ears of a jack rabbit and could tell the sound was too soft to be a walker, meaning they had a live one in here with them. He was sure there wasn't a vehicle outside they could have used, afterall this wasn't his first rodeo. But now that he thought about it more, this one had been too easy.

He should have done a full sweep circling the building inside and out. Shaking his head in exasperation with his carelessness he made a stealthy approach to the rear of the store, coming up on the pharmacists area he pivoted quickly behind the counter with his weapon raised, but found it empty. He noticed the gap on the otherwise fairly well stocked shelves, seeing that antibiotics had been taken and tucked that information away. Proceeding to the store room door and drawing the blade from his belt and tucked his gun into his waistband of his tattered pants as he waited for his companion to join him.

**~o0O0o~**

Holding her breath for a few moments on the other side of the door, she let her eyes acclimate to the dark and then she inhaled deeply. It was musty but it didn't smell of carrion, there's no confusing the smell of death anymore. She'd learned how to tell how dead something was within a few breaths. She couldn't rule out that the musty smell meant there was a dry one in here, but anything more and in this small space and she'd be gaging.

Didn't mean it wasn't a threat, they just tended to slow down the older they got. The sinews got shorter as they dried and they just couldn't function as fluidly as well, a fresh one could, literally. Allowing her eyes to dilate as much as they could, she flared her nostrils and did a sweep of the space as quickly as possible. She was simply looking for a way out and was was grateful to see the sliver of light on the floor that led her to a delivery door leading outside. Rushing to it in relief, she found herself a moment later dodging the ineffectual sweep of a zombie that had melted to the floor in is decomposition and had become stuck as a prisoner in a puddle of it's own hardened remains.

Surprised that there was any brain left to be working that swinging skeletal arm she kneeled down, slipped her knife in the empty eye socket and swished the blade around until it stopped moving. Flicking the sludge off the blade as she made for the backdoor. Roncey silently opened the door and cautiously slipped outside. Spotting the boys she signaled it was time to make a break for it, and slipped into the tree line.

**~o0O0o~**

Holding up 3 fingers to his friend the biker then counted them down silently and when he hit one opened the door with a wide sweeping gesture. The other man stepped into the room, coiled to react with his knife raised above his head, ready to take out whatever might greet him.

The daylight streamed through the open door into the dark interior of a small room with shelves reaching to the ceiling lined up against the walls. The biker came in behind his companion and wedged the the wooden shim under the door to keep it fully open and filling the space with light. The biker hurried to the back door slowing a moment to take in the dispatched walker, then flung it open and watched the three figures becoming smaller in the distance.

"Well there they go. Whatcha think?" The Biker asked his companion.

"Up to you. We could use the supplies, but our mission is to look out for live ones." He replied with a shrug. "Is that a pile of walkers over there?"

"Yup. Notice there's no drag marks? They led them here and then took them out. That's some cunning, tells us they're smart but probably not strong. Looks like buddy took medicine back at the pharmacy and the walker in there was put down, and it wasn't about survival." The Biker replied.

"Ok, so that was like a kindness?" He asked doubtfully.

"Just saying, the guy could had just stepped over it, he knew we were here and still took the time to end it before buggin' out." The biker replied.

"Fair enough. Do you think they meet the criteria?" The second man asked, walking over to the tidy pile of walkers stacked behind a shed, impressed with the planning that took.

"Dunno, but might be worth checking out. Tell you what, you shop, I'll track. Leave my bike back here and I'll meet you at the cabin in a couple of hours." The biker replied with a shrug.

"Fine with me., Do think you can find something bigger than a squirrel today? I mean I'm not knocking it but the bones are starting irritate me." He replied.

"Seems to me, you need to learn how to hunt boy." The biker replied with a harsh tone, softened by a smirk.

"Yeah, yeah. See you in a few." He chuckled waving him off.

**~o0O0o~**

Roncey waited for the other's to catch up with her just past the treeline.

"Hey, I got it. Here, take these just in case." She said, dividing up the meds between them. They'd learned the hard way not to put all their eggs in one basket anymore. "Ok, let's book. Don't want to risk getting followed but just in case we'll split up. Scar, you're the fastest, I want you to run back to camp and get those to Missy. Go!"

Scar nodded and was quickly a dark speck in the distance.

"Ok, lets have some fun." She said turning to Tobey. "First things first lets clean up his trail." Giving each other a feral grin before they picked up branches and started sweeping Scar's foot prints away.

"I'll start on laying false trails. Be careful." Toby said as he bumbled forward snapping twigs and branches as he went in the opposite direction.

**~o0O0o~**

The Biker watched their progress from a distance, there was only two now and he was impressed with their efforts before they separated. He decided to follow the one that was still sweeping the trail, he seemed like the leader of the group and he knew he'd learn the most from watching that one. If he lost his trail he knew where to pick up the trail of the other one.

"OK buddy, lead me home." He muttered softly. They might be good, but he was better.

**~o0O0o~~o0O0o~~o0O0o~**

Thanks to: **safeandsoundunderthestars, Guest** and **FrankiKaos** for your reviews and follows along with **Paper Grenade**, Thanks also to **Stjarna17** who's made this fic a favorite and to the 57 readers so far.

I'm glad you like the premise and thanks to **FrankiKaos**'s review comment, this will be a spoiler free fic so no worrying about that for the international fans of the show, since they catch it later than North America. I agree Scar made me think of the Lion King too but I'm thinking "Scar" thinks it makes him seem like more of a badass, but at the same time revealing a sweetness, it is a Disney villain after all. So does he have a scar? Let the suggestions flow and we'll see where the winter will take us.

**~o0O0o~~o0O0o~~o0O0o~**

Here's the other fic I've been working on since the S3 hiatus, which is also a Daryl/OC (With lot's of Merle, in case you're missing him.)

**s/8787375/1/How-the-Man-Designed-Me**


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